[dfwgator]

Because the product (coal) was so badly needed that it had to be recovered at any cost?

And meanwhile we can't drill for oil in ANWR. Beam me up!

[lugsoul]

Drilling for oil - whether it be in ANWR, the Gulf, or in your own backyard - will not dispense with the need to mine coal, and it is disingenuous to say that it will.

Unless, of course, you are planning on mothballing the coal-fired plants that account for almost 50% of our electricity, and the entire US steel industry, and converting the whole thing to a petro system. I don't think you'll find a single soul who would attempt to justify that on any basis.